(16 Jan, 2019 - www.rt.com)

The Central Bank of Russia reports that foreign exchange reserves saw a significant boost of 8.3 percent over the 12 months through January 1 of the current year.

Reserves reportedly grew to over $468 billion from $432 billion at the beginning of last January. According to the regulator, reserves grew for the third consecutive year. In 2017, growth totaled $55 billion, while 2016 saw an increase of $9.3 billion.

The value of gold in the reserves increased by nearly five percent to $86.9 billion in December, with the share of the precious metal surging to 18.5 percent. Last year, saw the value of gold in Russia’s reserves grow by over $10 billion, marking an increase of 13 percent.

The aggregate value of the national reserves grew by 0.6 percent to $381 billion in December, and showed an increase of 7.2 percent last year.

Russia’s growing reserves in the last three years seem to point to an adjustment to economic sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union in 2014. Western penalties had a significant initial impact on Russia’s reserves, which saw a decrease of $124 billion in 2014 and a $17 billion contraction the following year.

Russia’s international reserves are highly liquid foreign assets comprising stocks of monetary gold, foreign currencies and Special Drawing Right (SDR) assets, which are at the disposal of the Central Bank of Russia and the government.

Earlier this month, Russia’s central bank reported that it cut the share of the US dollar in the country’s foreign reserves to a historic low, transferring nearly $100 billion into the euro, the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan. The step came as a part of a broader state policy on eliminating a reliance on the greenback

Russia shifts $100bn of its reserves into yuan, yen & euro in a great dollar dump

The Central Bank of Russia has moved further away from reliance on the US dollar and has axed its share in the country’s foreign reserves to a historic low, transferring about $100 billion into euro, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan.

The share of the US currency in Russia’s international reserves portfolio has dramatically decreased in just three months between March and June 2018, from 43.7 percent to a new low of 21.9 percent, according to the Central Bank’s latest quarterly report, which is issued with a six-month lag.

The money pulled from the dollar reserves was redistributed to increase the share of the euro to 32 percent and the share of Chinese yuan to 14.7 percent. Another 14.7 percent of the portfolio was invested in other currencies, including the British pound (6.3 percent), Japanese yen (4.5 percent), as well as Canadian (2.3 percent) and Australian (1 percent) dollars.

The Central Bank's total assets in foreign currencies and gold increased by $40.4 billion from July 2017 to June 2018, reaching $458.1 billion.

© www.cbr.ru

Russia began its unprecedented dumping of US Treasury bonds in April and May of last year, amid a rise in tensions between the United States and Russia. The massive $81 billion spring sell-off coincided with the US’s sanctioning of Russian businessmen, companies and government officials.

The Kremlin has openly stated that American sanctions and pressure are forcing Russia to find alternative settlement currencies to the US dollar to ensure the security of the country’s economy. Other countries, such as China and Iran, are also pursuing steps to challenge the greenback’s dominance in global trade.